


Broken

by tiyunut



Series: Endings [2]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bad Ending Spoilers (Mystic Messenger), Gen, Heavy Angst, Hospitalization, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Sorry, Kang Jaehee's Route (Mystic Messenger), Major Illness, Mentioned 707 | Choi Luciel, Mentioned Main Character (Mystic Messenger), Overworking, Possible Character Death, Suicidal Thoughts, The Author Regrets Everything, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 13:12:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17023233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiyunut/pseuds/tiyunut
Summary: That night, at the hospital, Jaehee finally realised she'd lost her purpose all those years ago. But it was too late...(Jaehee Bad Story Ending 2)





	Broken

**Author's Note:**

> I thought Jaehee's Bad Story Ending 1 was bad. Well, her Bad Story Ending 2 was SO MUCH WORSE. Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into it... Anyways, here's my interpretation.

Jaehee Kang: Huh?

Jaehee Kang: **I just got a text from Zen.**

Jaehee Kang: ...He wants to meet me...

Jaehee Kang: I have to leave!

MC: Aren't you going to work?

Jaehee Kang: Oh...

Jaehee Kang: I don't think it will take too much of my time.

Jaehee Kang: Then I'll be back.

* * *

 Jaehee closed the messenger, with a sigh. She did have a lot of work to do, especially with that cat hotel project, but meeting Zen surely wouldn't take so long.

Besides, the stack of papers on her desk certainly wouldn't get taller if she just left for a little while...

* * *

Zen: I'm near your place and I was wondering if we could meet? I have something for you ^^

Jaehee: Sure, I'm coming down.

* * *

  _Well... Time for a break then._

Jaehee got up from her desk, rubbing her neck to relieve the pain of sitting and writing documents for hours on end.

_I wonder what Zen could possibly want._

As she locked the door to her apartment, though, she was surprised to see the white-haired actor already in the hallway, waiting for her.

"Zen...?".

He looked embarrassed. "I shouldn't have come up".

_Oh! I didn't mean it like that!_

"I-I didn't imagine you to be here. I thought you were waiting downstairs".

Zen winked, with a cheeky little smile on his face. "I got bored of waiting so I came up".

"...I see".

_Did I really take so long to come? I must be losing track of time..._

"You're not in your pajamas. It's already late...".

"Yes... I should still be presentable".

She had a long evening ahead of her, after all... There was still so much work to do for the presentation.

"But why are you here at this hour...?".

Smiling, he answered:"Uhm... I came to give you a present to say thank you".

Only then did Jaehee notice he was keeping his hands behind his back, as to hide something.

_A present? I was just doing my job as an RFA member..._

"Seven can say some useful things at times. He told me I should give you this to thank you instead of just making suggestions for your life".

Seven said so? That did sound like useful advice... Still, what had she done to deserve it?

"I don't understand...".

"I saw how your eyes twinkled when you were writing the coffee report. I'm good at catching things like that".

_The coffee report?_

"Here, take this," he said, handing her a box.

"This is...?".

"It's a gift".

"This brand... It's a hand mill," Jaehee said, without much excitement in her voice.

"I'm sorry, I can't accept this".

"Sorry?" said Zen, wide-eyed. Her reaction must have seemed quite harsh and unexpected...

"Please return it. I didn't do any work to deserve this. I decided to stop thinking about the coffee matter".

It wasn't that she didn't like coffee anymore, but... Everyone had told her to let go of the coffee project, even _her_. Clearly she had just gotten too invested in something she shouldn't have cared about.

Zen looked... disappointed? "Oh... But you did take care of me, and I don't know much about coffee... but it was good to see you so passionate about something. I wanted to give you this to show you my support".

She hadn't been passionate about a project for so long, true, but the world simply didn't care about her passions. It was better that way.

"Can you please just accept it?".

"If you have to insist on giving me a gift, I'd appreciate it if you could give me a notepad, some food or something practical. I don't wish to see anything coffee related for the time being".

"Jaehee... Are you hurt because of what Jumin said?". He seemed genuinely concerned...

 _It's not just Jumin, it's everyone. It's_ her _..._ She _'s my friend,_ she _knows what's best for me._

Was her pain so obvious? Struggling to appear neutral, she answered:"No... I won't be able to work if I get hurt over such things. I only wish to suppress my emotions and work like Mr Han".

It might have sounded harsh, but it was the only way to survive in this world for someone ordinary like her...

"I apologise if I sounded harsh. Thank you for the gift but I cannot accept it".

"Jaehee...".

"Then I'll get going".

She turned back to her apartment, leaving Zen alone, standing in the corridor and silently worrying about her.

_Back to work... I've already lost too much time._

She turned the light back on and sat on the chair, but even though she'd chosen a chair with soft stuffing it still seemed so hard...

Reading through all her notes and the data provided by Mr Han for the presentation, she kept on writing down the main points. It seemed to her she'd been sitting there forever, but the presentation was going to be the day after and she couldn't let Mr Han down.

She didn't even notice it getting dark outside as she worked, trying to keep her mind away from the coffee project. She'd already revised it, miscalculating the numbers just as her boss had told her, so it wouldn't generate profit.

Then, she realised she had some data missing. Frantically digging through the pile of papers, she realised it was probably back at the office... Only then did she notice the terrible backache, probably gotten from sitting too long in the same place.

_How long have I been working...?_

She glanced at the clock. Nearly 19:00 PM... She hadn't yet eaten dinner, or taken any breaks aside from Zen's visit... Still, she had to get back to the office and retrieve those documents, or she'd never finish the presentation in time.

_Back to C &R it is then..._

It seemed to take her forever to find her keys and lock the apartment, probably because she was so tired she could see words swimming around her field of vision... Her phone kept ringing with RFA messages, but she just ignored them.

_I need to focus..._

* * *

 

As soon as she got to her cubicle, she started looking for those documents.

_Where could they be...? I could have sworn I left them right here._

She was so absorbed in her search, she didn't even hear her boss approaching.

"Assistant Kang, why are you back at the office?".

With a start, she turned towards Jumin. "Mr Han, hello. I left some documents here so I came back".

Just then, she spotted them. 

_Found them... Now I can go back to work._

"I see. You don't look too well... Are you taking care of yourself?".

Did she really look so bad? Her legs were shaking a bit, but she could still work.

"Yes... I just need some sleep".

_Sleep. That sure sounds nice... As soon as I get this done I will get some sleep._

"The presentation will go fine so don't worry".

"...Wait". Jumin Han, looking concerned? ...nah. She was probably just so tired she was imagining it.

"Yes?".

"No, it's nothing".

"...Then please excuse me".

_I really need to get home and sleep._

Her eyelids felt so heavy she wasn't sure she could keep her eyes open much longer.

As she turned to leave, she suddenly felt short of breath, as if it had all been knocked out of her. Her legs kept shaking more and more, until she just couldn't go on any longer and collapsed, right in the middle of the C&R hallway.

The last thing she heard was Mr Jan's footsteps as he ran towards her, and the panic in his voice as he cried out:"Assistant Kang...!? Kang!".

She couldn't even answer, so hard it was to breathe. Everything was a blur, the whole world spun around her.

"We need an ambulance!".

After that, everything went black.

* * *

The next thing she remembered after that was seeing V, screaming defiantly in the face of what seemed like certain defeat.

"You think I was blinded by his treasures? No...!".

Something was slightly wrong though, as V's voice did not seem his own.

His eyes burned with resolve. "I was born with the mission to save everyone, and that is the only path I walk".

"You can take everything from me but my purpose... haha...".

Right then, she realised what was wrong. Of course it wasn't V's voice, those were the lines from one of Zen's musicals!

"...Zen," she mumbled, slightly opening her eyes.

The first thing she saw was Yoosung, leaning towards her with tears in his eyes.

"Jaehee... Are you awake?".

Next to him, Mr Han. "Thank God".

_Where am I?_

"This is...?".

Jumin piped up:"Do you remember fainting in the conference room?".

_Fainting? Is that what happened?_

She did recall going to C&R to retrieve some documents, and then a blank. Hearing the beeping of the machinery and realising she was lying in bed, it dawned upon her that she was in a hospital room.

"...So I did".

"Jaehee... You worked too hard. Zen was so worried," said Yoosung.

_Worried? About me? Stupid... I shouldn't have made them worry so much._

"Is Zen here too?".

"Everyone's here, except _her_ ".

_Ah..._

For some reason, that didn't really surprise her. After all, why should someone who had only known her for eight days worry?

"The doctor said that you'll be in real trouble if you keep working like this. He wants you to keep a regular eating and sleeping schedule, plus exercise".

"...I will have the company take responsibility of this. Since I don't want to lose a competent employee like Assistant Kang".

_He says that, but... is it possible he really was worried?_

"Oh! You've changed, Jumin," said Yoosung, pleasantly surprised.

_No need to worry about me... I'm not going to work for you anymore... Soon..._

"Mr Han... Thank you, but I... I think I'm broken".

"Broken?".

"I think I had a dream. I feel like I saw in my dream something I let go years ago".

How driven V looked... How determined he was to help people... It only served to remind her how she'd let go of having a purpose, so much so that she couldn't even remember what was her dream, or even if she had one.

"After seeing that... I feel like I'm broken. I can no longer hang on. I... have to resign". 

"What...?".

"Jaehee! Are you serious?".

_I've made up my mind... I just can't go on._

"Yes... I think it's time to move on. I will finish everything up here at the hospital".

_It's as if... I'm not even sure if I'm referring to the job or... something else..._

"Thank you for everything".

"...Alright, let me know if you need anything. The company will take care of everything until you are healthy".

_Healthy... Can I even be healthy any longer? Still, I shouldn't make him worry. I don't want to be a burden on the company for long... I won't be._

"Thank you".

Mr Han walked away, leaving her with Yoosung.

"Jaehee... Why don't you think about this more?".

"I want to stop everything and empty my head. I'd like to... go traveling with the money I saved".

_Travel... Somewhere far, far away... I won't be of much use here, anyway, without a purpose. I'll never get that back..._

"Jaehee... You're still going to be in the RFA, right?".

How odd... Yoosung couldn't possibly have figured out what truly was behind her words, right?

"I'd like to take my hands off the RFA for the time being. Besides, I doubt I can go to the party like this. I apologise for the sudden interruption".

"...No, I'll respect your decision".

Jaehee sighed in relief.

"Zen seems very worried, please tell him nicely... I'll go look for Seven".

"Yes".

Just as he was about to leave, Jaehee remembered something.

"Oh, uhm...".

"Yes?" asked Yoosung, turning towards her.

"I can't use my phone here. If you get in touch with _her_ please tell her not to worry about me... I will be healthy and out of here soon so no need to worry...".

_Soon... Yes, everything would be all right soon..._

"...I will. Rest up, Jaehee".

* * *

_At last, alone._

All she wanted to do was close her eyes and let sleep take her away. She had no more work to do, no purpose to chase, nothing to make her life hectic anymore.

_I guess I can rest now? I've run for years to come this far._

As she closed her eyes, after taking one last look at the blank hospital walls, she thought to herself: _Yes... Let's rest now. No more thoughts._

All she wished was to drift off to sleep in an eternal darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> I CRUSHED JAEHEE'S DREAMS AND HOPES AND NOW SHE'S IN THE HOSPITAL WANTING TO GIVE UP ON LIFE AND EVERYTHING HURTS AND NOTHING IS OKAY


End file.
